Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alatorre on Thursday sided with angry neighbors who are opposed to the proposed construction of outdoor stalls for 45 vendors at El Mercado de Los Angeles, a longtime Mexican marketplace on the Eastside. Alatorre's decision, spelled out in a two-page statement, virtually dooms a proposal by mercado owner Pedro Rosado to legitimize the outdoor vendors, whose activities have been deemed illegal by Los Angeles city building inspectors and county health officials.

If there is any lasting truth about the 25-year controversy surrounding El Mercado de Los Angeles marketplace in Boyle Heights, it is this: No solution is as simple as it appears. Roughly 20 outdoor vendors, who had operated illegally at the Eastside market for years, had been told by Councilman Nick Pacheco that they could return this weekend to the El Mercado parking lot at 1st and Lorena streets. They had agreed to quit selling in the lot last November until a compromise could be reached.

If there is any lasting truth about the 25-year controversy surrounding El Mercado de Los Angeles marketplace in Boyle Heights, it is this: No solution is as simple as it appears. Roughly 20 outdoor vendors, who had operated illegally at the Eastside market for years, had been told by Councilman Nick Pacheco that they could return this weekend to the El Mercado parking lot at 1st and Lorena streets. They had agreed to quit selling in the lot last November until a compromise could be reached.

The stalls have come down outside El Mercado. Gone are the makeshift booths where vendors sold toys and silver jewelry, and the pushcarts were piled high with churros and fruit. After years of acrimony and political bickering over the Mexican-style marketplace in Boyle Heights, 24 vendors who were illegally working out of the parking lot have packed up their wares and relocated, part of a compromise brokered by Councilman Nick Pacheco.

The Los Angeles City Council paved the way Wednesday to give outdoor vendors at the Eastside's bustling El Mercado de Los Angeles the permanent home some have sought for decades. The council tentatively approved a zoning change allowing a new building on the property into which vendors who now hawk goods in the mercado parking lot could move. The council action pleased the 40 vendors who sell everything from taquitos to toys to as many as 30,000 visitors a month.

The controversial Boyle Heights' El Mercado scored a major victory this week when the city Planning Commission agreed to a zoning change allowing the owners to construct a special area for vendors. The issue now goes to the City Council's Planning and Land Use Management Committee for review.

It's a bustling open-air market with stands selling steaming hot corn, tortillas, toys and clothing. It's crowded in the mornings and jammed on the weekends. There's only one problem: It's not legal. And as of Thursday, El Mercado at 1st and Lorena streets in Boyle Heights still isn't.

The City Council denied a zoning change sought by Boyle Heights' bustling El Mercado on Wednesday and, like nearly everything else surrounding the controversial market-cum-swap meet, the reasons for the rebuff are in dispute. Some say the busy center of neighborhood commerce became a political football, a chance for Latino politicians to prove they can be tough on other Latinos.

Reigniting a bitter dispute, the City Council agreed Wednesday to reexamine whether the owner of El Mercado should be allowed to build permanent enclosures for the outdoor vendors operating in the parking lot of the Boyle Heights swap meet.

About 100 merchants, neighbors and college students staged a protest Tuesday at City Hall over the predicament of El Mercado businesses that were handed eviction notices earlier this month. The evictions come after years of battling with the city over permission to sell goods in a Boyle Heights parking lot at 1st and Lorena streets. The protesters directed their anger at City Councilman Richard Alatorre, who represents the neighborhood. "Mr. Alatorre, where are your promises to help us out?"

The Los Angeles City Council paved the way Wednesday to give outdoor vendors at the Eastside's bustling El Mercado de Los Angeles the permanent home some have sought for decades. The council tentatively approved a zoning change allowing a new building on the property into which vendors who now hawk goods in the mercado parking lot could move. The council action pleased the 40 vendors who sell everything from taquitos to toys to as many as 30,000 visitors a month.

Reigniting a bitter dispute, the City Council agreed Wednesday to reexamine whether the owner of El Mercado should be allowed to build permanent enclosures for the outdoor vendors operating in the parking lot of the Boyle Heights swap meet.

About 100 merchants, neighbors and college students staged a protest Tuesday at City Hall over the predicament of El Mercado businesses that were handed eviction notices earlier this month. The evictions come after years of battling with the city over permission to sell goods in a Boyle Heights parking lot at 1st and Lorena streets. The protesters directed their anger at City Councilman Richard Alatorre, who represents the neighborhood. "Mr. Alatorre, where are your promises to help us out?"

The City Council denied a zoning change sought by Boyle Heights' bustling El Mercado on Wednesday and, like nearly everything else surrounding the controversial market-cum-swap meet, the reasons for the rebuff are in dispute. Some say the busy center of neighborhood commerce became a political football, a chance for Latino politicians to prove they can be tough on other Latinos.

The controversial Boyle Heights' El Mercado scored a major victory this week when the city Planning Commission agreed to a zoning change allowing the owners to construct a special area for vendors. The issue now goes to the City Council's Planning and Land Use Management Committee for review.

It's a bustling open-air market with stands selling steaming hot corn, tortillas, toys and clothing. It's crowded in the mornings and jammed on the weekends. There's only one problem: It's not legal. And as of Thursday, El Mercado at 1st and Lorena streets in Boyle Heights still isn't.

After nearly four hours of testimony, a Los Angeles zoning board Tuesday rejected plans to build 45 permanent stalls for outdoor vendors at El Mercado, a landmark marketplace in Boyle Heights. In making its decision, the city Board of Zoning Appeals agreed that outdoor vending at the Mexican marketplace's rear entrances is illegal. It set a March 1, 1997, deadline by which all of the outdoor vendors, some of whom have been selling their wares there for more than 10 years, must be gone.

The stalls have come down outside El Mercado. Gone are the makeshift booths where vendors sold toys and silver jewelry, and the pushcarts were piled high with churros and fruit. After years of acrimony and political bickering over the Mexican-style marketplace in Boyle Heights, 24 vendors who were illegally working out of the parking lot have packed up their wares and relocated, part of a compromise brokered by Councilman Nick Pacheco.

After nearly four hours of testimony, a Los Angeles zoning board Tuesday rejected plans to build 45 permanent stalls for outdoor vendors at El Mercado, a landmark marketplace in Boyle Heights. In making its decision, the city Board of Zoning Appeals agreed that outdoor vending at the Mexican marketplace's rear entrances is illegal. It set a March 1, 1997, deadline by which all of the outdoor vendors, some of whom have been selling their wares there for more than 10 years, must be gone.

Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alatorre on Thursday sided with angry neighbors who are opposed to the proposed construction of outdoor stalls for 45 vendors at El Mercado de Los Angeles, a longtime Mexican marketplace on the Eastside. Alatorre's decision, spelled out in a two-page statement, virtually dooms a proposal by mercado owner Pedro Rosado to legitimize the outdoor vendors, whose activities have been deemed illegal by Los Angeles city building inspectors and county health officials.